First and foremost the classroom needs to be a supportive community and an atmosphere that welcomes all learners. In his book, Life in a Crowded Place, Ralph Peterson reminds us about community this way:
Teachers who make communities have a big order to fill. Students who show up at the classroom door when the school bell rings in the fall are not an all-of-a-kind family. Far from it. Each person is unique, a reflection of his or her own personality…it is not unusual in today’s classrooms to find three, five, and sometimes more cultures represented. Bringing students together as a group and nurturing tolerance for their ways and beliefs while celebrating their differences challenges the talents of most experienced teachers…The primary goal at the beginning of a new year is to lead students to come together, form a group, and be there for one another.
It begins the first day of school and continues throughout the year. When the school year starts, try a few things to establish community, such as:
• Create Opening the Day, Transition, and Ending the Day ceremonies. Ceremony is very powerful, because it forms attitudes, creates a feeling of group purpose, centers the group, and turns attention to events that follow.
• Create rituals together. Do this important work with each other, rather than deciding everything before students arrive.
• Establish and practice routines until they are automatic.
• Work together to decide on the jobs necessary to keep your learning space orderly and who will be responsible for them.
• Choose read-aloud texts carefully: What books get the community to pull together because we’ll respond emotionally to the texts?
• Get kids to “bring themselves” into the classroom by sharing hobbies, collections, and favorite books from home.
• Ask students to help decide room and library arrangements.
• Make connections between school and home. Include parents in early homework assignments and in the curriculum.
• Be open with students about your own learning process.
Teachers who make communities have a big order to fill. Students who show up at the classroom door when the school bell rings in the fall are not an all-of-a-kind family. Far from it. Each person is unique, a reflection of his or her own personality…it is not unusual in today’s classrooms to find three, five, and sometimes more cultures represented. Bringing students together as a group and nurturing tolerance for their ways and beliefs while celebrating their differences challenges the talents of most experienced teachers…The primary goal at the beginning of a new year is to lead students to come together, form a group, and be there for one another.
It begins the first day of school and continues throughout the year. When the school year starts, try a few things to establish community, such as:
• Create Opening the Day, Transition, and Ending the Day ceremonies. Ceremony is very powerful, because it forms attitudes, creates a feeling of group purpose, centers the group, and turns attention to events that follow.
• Create rituals together. Do this important work with each other, rather than deciding everything before students arrive.
• Establish and practice routines until they are automatic.
• Work together to decide on the jobs necessary to keep your learning space orderly and who will be responsible for them.
• Choose read-aloud texts carefully: What books get the community to pull together because we’ll respond emotionally to the texts?
• Get kids to “bring themselves” into the classroom by sharing hobbies, collections, and favorite books from home.
• Ask students to help decide room and library arrangements.
• Make connections between school and home. Include parents in early homework assignments and in the curriculum.
• Be open with students about your own learning process.
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